The Eternal Sunshine and Mood Indigo director talks about ignoring critics, making movies for a girl, the Green Hornet sequel that never happened, and why you never say no to Björk

Michel Gondry has always brought us new ways of seeing the world in films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind, and in his countless music videos. But in recently adapting one of his favorite boyhood novels (which just happens to be a literary classic in his native France), he's brought us his most fantastical journey yet. In Mood Indigo, out now, French superstar Romain Duris plays Colin, a wealthy bachelor who lives in an amazing pad complete with rays of sunlight he uses to play bass, a runaway doorbell, and a piano that makes cocktails. Then he meets Chloé (fellow French superstar Audrey Tautou), with whom he instantly becomes smitten, and does what any guy would do: asks her on a date. But in a Gondry film, that's a little different. Colin shows Chloé the sights of Paris by riding inside a fiberglass cloud. Things are going great as the two get married, but suddenly Chloé becomes ill, leading to a sudden dark side rarely seen from the director.

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We met up with Gondry at the swanky Soho Grand Hotel in Manhattan last week and he had a lot on his mind: critics' beef with his "whimsical" style, his disinterest in doing comic-book adaptations after The Green Hornet, and why he can never say no to Björk (even when he tries).

ESQUIRE.COM: What did you like about the Boris Vian book [Froth on the Daydream]when you read it as a teen?

MICHEL GONDRY: It was completely free. So the story was very romantic but it could explain things that you see but never hear about, like the texture of the light and objects that have a life of their own. Like in the night you see a chair and you imagine it's a big insect — you don't read anything like that, so when you do read a book that describes those little details, it really spoke to me.

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ESQ: How old were you when you first read it?

MG: Maybe 16 or 17.

ESQ: Because of your affection for the book, was it hard to adapt it for the screen?

MG: What was the hardest thing was everyone in France has read the book so everyone has their own idea of how it should be done. And I fought with myself on how I should do it and finally I said I'm just doing it.

ESQ: What was the biggest challenge in adapting it?

MG: I had to reinforce the characters a bit, and that's why I asked Romain Duris and Audrey Tautou to be my main leads because they are great actors, of course, but they are kind of French Hollywood. It was putting these two into a crazy world like The Wizard of Oz. You need these actors to hold together this world that is completely made out of imagination.

ESQ: And as with most of your films the world you create, you actually built. There's little CGI.

MG: Yes. It's like The Wizard of Oz — the original is really mesmerizing because you see how built the sets are. You see the yellow brick road is made for real and then in the distance it's painted onto a canvas. It's like when you go to a retro museum in New York and they have those amazing paintings in the back row and you have a three-dimensional landscape in the foreground, and you can barely see the transitions. It's an optical illusion, and I always loved that since I was a kid.

ESQ: Many critics have called this movie your most dreamlike. Is there ever a point where you say to yourself, "I've gone too far"?

Why should I restrain myself? It's true, I read sometimes, 'It's way too whimsical,' and I think, what does it mean to be whimsical? Why do you use that as a negative word?

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MG: What I think to myself is on the next one I'm not going to be so crazy. That's it. But why should I restrain myself? It's true, I read sometimes, "It's way too whimsical," and I think, what does it mean to be whimsical? Why do you use that as a negative word? This means I can't do something that's different from others? Or that's surprising or imaginative? They say, "It's too imaginative." So I think fuck that. Those are people who can't accept something different. I mean, you're not forced to go and see it. I want to make things as whimsical as I want. I read [about Mood Indigo], "Even the biggest Gondry fan would be tired of the whimsy." Well that's the guy who wrote the article who got tired, but a lot of other people aren't tired, they want more even.

ESQ: This is nothing new. Critics have been saying this about your work since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Does that critique ever pop up in the back of your mind when you make films?

MG: In fact, I say fuck them. I'm going to be even more whimsical. I don't care. But I do think my next movie is going to be more subtle and straightforward. But I'm doing movies my own way and I don't think I should be apologetic.

ESQ: Personally, I want to stay in your world, and I love Mood Indigo for that, but suddenly for the last 20 minutes you get extremely dark.

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MG: Yes.

ESQ: We usually get a positive ending from you. This ending has a depressing feel, and even the picture loses its shine and becomes gray and cold. Was it fun to go a different direction?

MG: Well, I think The Science of Sleep is pretty sad.

ESQ: Yeah, but not at this level. It ends dismal and very sudden. [Warning: spoiler for the book and movie ahead.]

MG: Yeah, the book is like that. I couldn't betray the book. Once Chloé dies in the book, he's just destroyed. I heard that Robert Crumb killed Fritz the Cat at some point because he didn't want anyone to continue the character. I think it's fun when an author kills everyone.

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ESQ: What still fascinates you about telling love stories?

MG: I think it's the strongest feeling you experience. The fear of death, in my case, can only be balanced by the feeling of being loved. If I find the right girlfriend, I feel she's going to love me, I'm going to love her, I'm not going to be so afraid of dying. That's a true feeling. So of course, it's important and fascinating. I mean, there are so many horrible things going on, we need to do something about it, but it's weird that a feeling of being in love sort of is stronger than that. It's not really fair. I did this movie on [Noam] Chomsky [Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?], and we raised these other issues, but in general I'm pretty preoccupied by [love].

ESQ: You cast yourself in this movie, which is rare for you. Was that intentional?

MG: No, it happened the last minute. I asked a couple of really great French actors, and they couldn't do it, so someone suggested I do it and I tried. But I think I brought something to the character. I'm not saying I'm the best actor in the world, far from it, and I don't think I would do something like that again, but I made it a little more creepy than maybe an actor would. My contribution to the character was when you see me for the second time, I give the money back to Colin. I think there's nothing more scary than to see your doctor admitting he's wrong.

ESQ: Does the audience in France see your work differently than in the U.S.?

MG: No. I don't think it's related to the countries. It's more the size of the films and the actors I work with. Maybe I get more personal in France because maybe it's easier for me to talk about feelings in French. But, I don't know, The Science of Sleep was mostly English. It's hard to tell. I think maybe I get more freedom in France.

ESQ: Would things be different if, say, a film like The Green Hornet did better?

I wonder, if [The Green Hornet] were a huge success, if I would have the huge house in Hollywood and see life differently. I probably would have to sustain my way of life so I'd have to do more commercial movies. It didn't happen.

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MG: I don't know. It's a question I ask myself. I mean, the movie did okay, it did [over] $200 million [worldwide]. It's decent. I wonder, if it were a huge success, if I would have the huge house in Hollywood and see life differently. I probably would have to sustain my way of life so I'd have to do more commercial movies. It didn't happen. I make more personal movies so maybe it was for the best. Anyway, my lifestyle is already much, much, much higher than I would have ever expected.

ESQ: There's a blessing-and-curse scenario with a Hollywood hit. You probably would have had to make a sequel or even a third film. Were you prepared to do that?

MG: Yeah.

ESQ: You were game for that?

MG: I don't know. When it started, I was like, sure, why not? And then, no. I have to say I made enough money that I can still live on it, so I am very grateful, and I can do something like the Chomsky movie with my own money. I can make a very small movie that makes no money and not have to really advertise for it or do painful jobs, so it's great. I hope I don't give the feeling that I stole the studio's money because I worked very hard on it, and I think I delivered the movie they wanted. In my mind, I want to do movies that are more personal to me.

ESQ: But are you interested in doing more Hollywood films?

MG: If I get a good story, a story that I can identify myself with. A story that doesn't blame the world. Like during the Cold War, it was always the Russians who were the villains, and then after 9/11, it's always Middle Easterners. I think that's so tiring. And the American army protagonists, these kinds of movies I will never do. I'm actually happy The Green Hornet does not have this. Some people were upset that I put an Asian as the strong guy. Americans are so pro-American, and the superhero movies carry this image so far. I can't be a part of that. So it's hard to find stories that I can share feelings with.

ESQ: One way to bring your interests to a Hollywood production is for you and Charlie Kaufman to team again. Are you guys working on anything?

MG: He's too busy for me.

ESQ: Well, you're busy, too.

MG: I'm busy, but I'm asking him more than he's asking me. But we'll see. It's very hard to read a good script after having worked with him. There's one screenwriter who I really like and I hope we work together, and that is Daniel Clowes [writer of Ghost World]. He did a screenplay we were going to do, but the producer who bought the screenplay didn't like me. But he's a writer I want to work with.

ESQ: I have to know, hypothetically, between the White Stripes or Daft Punk, which music video would you make next?

MG:[Pauses] But the White Stripes don't do music anymore.

ESQ: Let's say they got back together tomorrow, they call you, and they want you to direct their comeback video, but Daft Punk wants you, too.

You never say no to Björk. One time I couldn't do her music video and she wrote me an angry e-mail with big letters.

MG: I'd try to make both. Actually, the worst would be if Björk then called at the same time, too. That would be the nightmare. [Laughs] You never say no to Björk. One time I couldn't do her music video and she wrote me an angry e-mail with big letters and I had to finally say yes. But it's very hard to say no to all of them. It's hard because I probably have time to do one video a year. But I mean if the White Stripes got back together and called me, yes, it would be impossible to say no.

ESQ: So what still drives you to create?

MG: You want me to be perfectly honest?

ESQ: Please.

MG: It's to get the girl I'm in love with to like me. It's all to impress her. Which is really corny, but I get someone in mind and I go, okay, I'll do this movie and she'll think I'm great and she's going to be in love with me. That's my main motivation.

ESQ: It comes back to the love story.

MG: It's true. Maybe not with The Green Hornet, but most of my movies.